Short Reviews for YA Fantasy(ish) Readers: February 22, 2022

So far this year, I’ve really been leaning into (a) reading from a variety of genres and categories and (b) not worrying about writing reviews. And it’s been working, seeing as my reading experience over the past ~6 weeks has been better than it’s ever been.

But even if I don’t have 1,000 words of thoughts, I do still have, y’know…thoughts. So without further ado, here are are reviews for 4 young adult science-fiction-fantasy-ish books I’ve read recently:

---

The thing with magical realism (and its adjacent genres such as fabulism et al.) is that the author has to lean into the idea of “weirdness as metaphor for trauma” without making it blindingly obvious that they are, in fact, using magic as a metaphor. In The Valley and the Flood, Rebecca Mahoney hasn’t quite grasped this delicate balance. Here, the protagonist finds herself in a town populated by monsters and prophets, and apparently she’s the harbinger of doom but also the only potential savior. Protagonist Rose also has PTSD, and with an extremely heavy hand, the author demonstrates the connection between the monsters and Rose’s trauma, and she “defeats” the encroaching ruin by wielding her Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tools. It was all just a little to obvious for me.

Overall, pretty disappointing situation. The Valley and the Flood has been on multiple “books I want to read lists” here on Romantic Parvenu (Exhibit 1 | Exhibit 2). Unfortunately, this was way too on-the-nose, lacking the mystery and subtlety that magical realism thrives on.

---

Here, Shelby Mahurin is writing an “old-fashioned” type of YA fantasy that I haven’t run into in quite a while. By old-fashioned, I mean stuff from the Good Old Days of 2012, when I was 17 and actually in the genre’s target demographic. OG Leigh Bardugo, OG Sarah J. Maas, Rae Carson’s Fire and Thorns trilogy, etc. (god wtf, I had advance reader’s copies of all of those—do I qualify for the Elder Book Reviewer discount now??)

Anyway. Serpent & Dove is a book with French Catholic-inspired worldbuilding that’s just a little too barebones to be considered good, a heavy focus on an enemies to lovers romance (featuring a sex scene that some of the best adult romance authors would be proud of!), and a magical chosen one protagonist. I liked this book. It’s fun, it’s fast-paced, the will-they-won’t-they of the romance has a strong pull. The book is dark and magical and glamorous.

This is also 100% not a series I plan on continuing, because I can see the trajectory of the plot from a mile out, and it devolves rapidly due to (a) the author’s lack of a sensical setting/magic system and (b) the need to keep romantic drama at an all-time high for the duration. When I was 17, I would have been super into this. But I’m old and crabby now, and I prefer YA with more brown folks and more carefully thought-out worlds. (Exhibit 1 | Exhibit 2)

---

I would imagine that over the past few years there have been a lot of novels out that get compared to Netflix’s Stranger Things (regardless of whether the author intended that vibe or not). Tara Goedjen’s No Beauties or Monsters certainly feels like a good comp to Stranger Things—and also to Netflix’s other “ominous sci-fi shenanigans in a small town” show, Dark (watch it if you haven’t!!!).

This young adult horror slash science fiction novel features a secretive military installation, unexplained memory loss, hallucinations, a murder cult, alternative dimensions, a rabies-like virus, a group of intrepid friends, and probably unethical hypnosis / memory regression. [*Stefon voice*]

No Beauties or Monsters is fast-paced and thrilling, with a tightly controlled flow of information that keeps you guessing but without frustrating the reader by the lack of answers. The writing is atmospheric, with spooky imagery that gestures towards the paranormal, and although the (rather too large) friend group who joins Rylie could have been given more depth of characterization, I still appreciated it. I think the Big Reveal came too late for there to be enough payoff, but it was a good and surprising reveal all the same. This would make a good TV show.

---

In picking up Never Look Back, I did something I literally never do—I gave a second chance to an author who I had previously thought was a not-very-good technical writer. I’m glad I did! Whereas Rivera’s debut, The Education of Margot Sánchez was full of great ideas but no follow-through, this book delivered on every one of its promises.

This young adult retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is “voicey” in the best way, full of colloquialisms and relevant pop culture references. Both main characters have strong, distinctive narrative styles, which really make the story pop. Like The Valley and the Flood (see above), Never Look Back uses elements of the fantastic to explore trauma, but Rivera has a lighter touch and a greater faith in her readers’ intelligence.

My quibbles with the book are twofold. First, the plot’s very abruptly transition from “contemporary romance about two Latinx kids in the Bronx” to “paranormal romance in the underworld” could have been smoother. I think the author considers this to be magical realism, but its not quite there, in my opinion—it’s two wildly different books wearing a trench coat. Both are good, but don’t marry together seamlessly. And second, male protagonist Pheus is…kind of gross? Accurate and relatable teen boy for sure, but his relationships with all the girls in his life are filtered through a sexualized lens that was only partially challenged by the end of it the story.

I know that amidst the mayhem of the past 5 years, Hurricane Maria is just a blip on the radar for many, but I’m truly glad that books are being written about it, as well as the general legacy of cultural imperialism and intergenerational trauma experienced by Puerto Ricans. Using Greek myth to explore these issues is a cool hook, and Rivera’s craft improved significantly from one book to the next.